Khalistan Zindabad Force

The Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), a proscribed group under The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, aims to establish a ‘sovereign Khalistan state’.

Although the exact cadre strength and organisational structure of the KZF is not known, it is largely comprised of Jammu-based Sikhs.

Ranjit Singh Neeta heads the KZF. Originally a resident of the Sumbal Camp area in Jammu, Neeta is reportedly now based somewhere in Pakistan. One of the 20 terrorists that India wants Pakistan to deport, Neeta began his career as a small-time criminal and subsequently developed links with smugglers in the R.S. Pora and Samba areas. His name figures in at least six First Information Reports filed after bomb blasts on trains and buses running between Jammu and Pathankot between 1988 and 1999. He is also alleged to have been involved in the killing of Deputy Superintendent of Police Devinder Sharma in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir in October 2001.

Neeta's second in command, Amritpal Singh Romi, was killed in an encounter in 2000.

Khuram Masih alias Manjit Singh alias Kala alias Akaal, a Christian-turned-Sikh and a close associate of Neeta, was shot dead by the police during an encounter at village Dablehar in the RS Pura Sector of Jammu on December 28, 2000. Reportedly a ‘hit-man’ for Neeta, Khuram Masih was involved in at least 20 explosions in Jammu, Punjab and New Delhi.

Ravinder Kaur alias Tutu, another leading member of the KZF, was arrested from Rudrapur in the State of Uttar Pradesh on March 30, 1998. Ravinder, an alleged ‘human bomb’, was wanted in connection with two bus bomb blasts at Pathankot in Punjab during April and June 1997, in which nine people had died. Ravinder, sister-in-law of the KZF chief Ranjit Singh Neeta, was married to Nirmal Singh Nimma, who was acquitted in the General Vaidya assassination case. Ravinder got involved in terrorist activities after her sister married Neeta in 1990.

On July 6, 2005, a day after the failed terrorist attack on the make-shift Ram temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, the Jammu and Kashmir police is working on inputs that the KZF outfit is making attempts to regroup in Jammu, according to Indian Express. Official sources said that many of the KZF activists against whom cases were filed in the courts have been enlarged on bail and they are seeking to regroup. Inspector General of Police (Jammu), S. P. Vaid, while confirming that the KZF was making attempts to regroup said, "We are making efforts that the KZF does not become successful in reviving itself here. Many of the activists were involved in different violence related activities."

Area of Operation and Linkages

While Punjab, Jammu, Delhi are the main areas of operation, the outfit is also reported to have operated from Nepal in the past. For instance, the Delhi Police (DP) claimed to have neutralised a Nepal module of the outfit with the arrest of three cadres on August 24, 2000. While addressing a press conference on that day, Ajai Raj Sharma, the then DP Commissioner, said Neeta, who was in Lahore, had established a powerful base at Bir Ganj in Nepal and that Maan Behanji and Lakhbir Singh were the main organisers of this base. Earlier, in November 1998, Lakhbir Singh, an activist of the KZF, was arrested from a hotel in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu along with 20 kg of RDX and timing devices. On interrogation, he is alleged to have identified three Pakistani embassy officials with whom he had liaised, one of them identified as Asim Saboor, according to an Asiaweek report of April 21, 2000. The bases in Nepal were reportedly set up by the KZF with support from the ISI during the phase of Punjab militancy.

While Pakistan continues to host the KZF and its 'chief', Ranjit Singh Neeta, the outfit is also reported to have activists and sympathisers in Britain, Germany, Canada and some other European countries.

Apart from being linked to the ISI, the KZF has close links with several terrorist groups active in Jammu and Kashmir, including the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM). Explaining such linkages, Sarabjit Singh, the then Punjab Police chief, said on November 14, 1999, that the KZF always had links with Kashmiri terrorists as it comprised Sikhs from the Jammu region.

Daily Excelsior reported on November 15, 2000 that "While the KZF still has much interest in hitting at Punjab, the ISI, intelligence reports say, has prevailed upon it to focus its attention on assignments given to its cadres in Jammu and Kashmir. Fresh and vigorous strikes in Poonch district (where Khalistan Zindabad Force has pockets of influence) and in other areas of the Jammu region, including the city of Jammu, according to the calculations purported to have been made by the ISI, would be more useful to it (ISI)."

The group has, intermittently, attempted to re-group and operationalise its subversive capacities in Punjab, Jammu, Delhi and elsewhere in India. However, a consistent loss of cadres and leadership has led to the KZF being marginalized although it retains its operational capacities.

Incidents

2011

• October 13: Jammu and Kashmir DGP Kuldeep Khoda said that Police was working on all leads, including a possible nexus between the LeT and Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), who might have jointly plotted the terror strike which was foiled with the recovery of the car laden with explosives in Ambala in Haryana on October 12. Asserting that Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) was not an active outfit in Jammu, Khoda said Police had reports that KZF was trying to revive itself. The KZF is headed by Ranjeet Singh alias Neeta of Simbal in Jammu, who was presently operating from Lahore in Pakistan. Recently, there had been reports of a nexus developing between Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir militants, which were corroborated with the reports that Neeta was trying to revive KZF in Jammu. The explosives were reportedly packed and sent from Jammu and Kashmir. "The spot could be anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir but since the role of KZF is emerging, the possibility of supply of explosives somewhere in Jammu including the border areas is not ruled out'', sources said, adding the KZF might have helped the BKI in the terror plot hatched jointly with the LeT outfit. "We had inputs that an LeT module active in Jammu and Kashmir was planning to strike in Delhi. Investigations were done and found that the explosives were meant for BKI and to be used in Delhi. We received a specific input yesterday [October 11] about the movement," Arun Kampani, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) said.

2010

• October 10: A cadre of the KZF, who is also associated with the BKI, was arrested by Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh Police from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The arrestee, identified as Gurjant Singh, was a native of Kurukshetra District in Haryana. An Italian pistol and some documents were seized from him. Gurjant reportedly acted as a link between KZF and BKI.

• October 10: A cadre of the KZF, who is also associated with the BKI, was arrested by Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh Police from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The arrestee, identified as Gurjant Singh, was a native of Kurukshetra District in Haryana. An Italian pistol and some documents were seized from him. Gurjant reportedly acted as a link between KZF and BKI.

• August 25: The IB warned that "inimical agencies" operating from "international bases" were trying to revive militancy in Punjab by forging an alliance between Khalistani outfits and the LeT. Calling attempts to revive Sikh militancy a worrisome trend, IB Chief Rajiv Mathur said, "There have been clear attempts by inimical agencies abroad to reactivate Sikh terrorist elements, forge nexus between LeT and terrorist groups like BKI and KZF and mobilise their resources for planning terrorist violence in Punjab and elsewhere in the country." Mathur, though, did not name any country or identified any agency, officials tracking the development later said interrogation of those arrested recently in Jalandhar and Amritsar in Punjab clearly hinted at their association with Pakistani intelligence agency ISI.

• August 4: A serious attempt is being made by the militants sitting in Pakistan with the help of Pakistan’s Army and spy agencies to revive militancy in Punjab using former militants and border smugglers and International Border (IB) of Jammu for smuggling of arms, explosives and hawala money. Some important revelations have been made by two border smugglers and courier of militants, arrested by Police and Counter Intelligence (CI) in Jammu, during their sustained interrogation at the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) pertaining to revival of militancy in Punjab, official sources said.

  Sources said Satnam Singh alias Tainy son of Prabhu Dayal, a resident of Kapoorpur in RS Pura and Parvesh son of Bihari Lal, a resident of Avtal in RS Pura were reported to have disclosed during their questioning by Police and CI that the militants of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) with active connivance of Pakistan Army, Rangers and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) used to throw consignments of arms, explosives, ammunition and hawala money from across the border to this side at a fixed point near the border fencing. The consignments were meant for ‘KZF’ militants in Punjab.

• August 2: Police claimed to have arrested two conduits of the KZF in connection with seizure of arms and ammunition from Border out Post (BoP) Bakarpur in R S Pura sector of Jammu District. Parveen Kumar son of Bihari Lal and Satnam alias Tani son of Prabhu Dayal resident of Kapoorpur in R S Pura were arrested by the Police in connection with seizure of arms and ammunition from Border out Post (BoP) Bakarpur in RS Pura, a week ago. "Both the accused during interrogation disclosed that KZF chief Neeta, presently in Pakistan had sent the said consignment of arms and ammunition to this side for carrying subversive activities in Pakistan," sources said, adding that it was the second consignment sent by Neeta in last few months. Sources said that duo further disclosed that first consignment was handed over by them to Darshan Singh son of Ajit Singh resident of Nadi (R S Pura) and they got INR 25,000 for this job. Darshan, however, went underground soon after Border Security Force troopers recovered a big consignment of arms and ammunition including Chinese Pistols and rounds from BoP Bakarpura.

• July 23: Pakistan-based Sikh militants, supported by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), might carry out bomb blasts in New Delhi before the Commonwealth Games, the Punjab Police has alerted, reports Times of India. An advisory circulated recently among all senior officers in the State by the intelligence department of Punjab Police has pointed out that Sikh militant leaders based in Pakistan are under "tremendous pressure" from the ISI to carry out sabotage activities in India before the Games. "Militant leaders, including KZF chief Ranjit Singh Neeta are planning to undertake some militant actions, including bomb blasts, before the Games scheduled in New Delhi in October," the advisory said. It also stated that around 15 kilograms RDX was smuggled into India from Pakistan by Neeta's contacts, which was divided into three parts, most of which has been seized by Police from different places in the State including Ferozepur and Rajpura. Intelligence sources of the State Police have inputs that Neeta could himself enter India if those directed to carry out the nefarious designs failed in their task. "Certain militants sitting abroad are desperate to push four Sikh extremists into India to carry out nefarious activities," the advisory said. Meanwhile, police have been sensitised and directed to take necessary preventive and detective measures to avoid any untoward incident, official sources said.

• May 2, 2010: On the basis of information provided by Punjab Police, a KZF militant, identified as Nirmal Singh alias Nimma, was arrested from Fokatpura locality under Devendranagar Police Station in Raipur, SP Om Prakash Pal said.

2009

• October 21: The Special Operation Cell of Punjab Police arrested a militant of the KZF. Police said that Barkat Singh, a close associate of Ranjit Singh, the KZF chief who is based in Pakistan, against whom many cases pertaining to terrorist activities were registered was arrested a few days back.

• May 26: According to information posted on the London-based Akash Radio Website, the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) has claimed responsibility for the May 24 attacks on a Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship) in Vienna. The Website claimed that it had received an e-mail, written on the KZF's letterhead, was signed by one Ranjit Singh. The KZF is said to have said the incident occurred because "these people did not heed to the warnings that they should not disrespect Guru Granth Sahibji by sitting parallel to Sri Guru Granth Sahibji; letting people bow before them in the Guru Sahib's presence and committing various unacceptable anti-maryada (Sikh code of conduct) acts. As they continued to commit such sins, the KZF was forced to take this action."

• May 4: According to military intelligence, a group of 935 Pakistani women are being trained by the ISI, Pakistan's external intelligence, in the Faridkot District of Punjab province in Pakistan to entice men and motivate them into becoming terrorists in India. According to a military intelligence report, the group is also being trained at a camp in Kotli, Pakistan. It said a joint meeting of senior ISI officers with representatives of al Qaeda, LeT, Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) and Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) on April 23 near Talwandi (in Pakistan) was attended by Neeta, KZF leader, and Nazira Begum, the wife of Kotli training camp principal Shah Mohammad. Taught to breach national boundaries, these women generally enter India through West Bengal and Bihar borders and are equally adept at using computers and in blackmailing youth.

2008

• September 25, 2008: Army and police arrested a Rashtriya Rifles personnel identified as Ranjeet Singh for his suspected links with the KZF when he was fleeing from his unit at Baramulla in Kashmir valley along with two AK-47 rifles in Banihal town on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

  June 11, 2008: Punjab Police disclosed the arrest of Bibi Ranjeet Kour, a front ranking activist of 'Iknoor Khalsa Fauj' (IKF) from village Ranwa between Barnala and Patiala a few days back. Official sources said that Biwi had approached KZF chief Ranjeet Singh Neeta in Pakistan for supply of arms to three militants who had been assigned the task of killing Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Pyara Singh Baniyarawale. The militants including Malkeet Singh, Surjeet Singh and Harbans Singh, were arrested by police from Dumi Malpur in Kanachak area along Jammu-Akhnoor road on June 3 along with a consignment of arms and ammunition including one AK-56 rifle and five Chinese pistols besides a large quantity of arms and ammunition. Official sources further told that Bibi Ranjeet Kour was a close associate of Jagtar Singh Hawara, one of the killers of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. Bibi Ranjeet Kour, who was also stated to be working for Pakistan's ISI, had agreed to help 'Iknoor Khalsa Fauj' after Malkeet Singh and his associates met her at her Ranwa residence in February this year soon after Malkeet was released from Patiala Central jail after serving a 10 month sentence in connection with an arms case.

• February 15, 2008: Three KZF militants, Sukhdev Singh, Satbir Singh and Purushottam Singh were sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment by a court in the national capital New Delhi for a bomb blast in the Kailash Hotel in Paharganj area on March 13, 2000 in which three persons were wounded.

• May 3, 2007: Intelligence agencies reportedly said that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, are trying to revive militancy in Punjab through sympathisers of Sikh militant groups like the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) and Khalistan Commando Force (KCF). Information has reportedly been sent to the Punjab Police about the plans to target towns of Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Pathankot region. Instructions have also been given to monitor the activities of sympathisers of BKI-Hawara, ISYF-Rode, KZF- Neeta and KCF, who are sending funds through hawala (illegal money transfers) to "re-launch their separatist movement."

• June 18, 2006: Satnam Singh alias Satta, a terrorist of the Pakistan-based KZF, confessed during interrogation that he carried out the bomb blasts at the bus terminal in Jalandhar on April 28, 2006, on the instructions of the outfit’s chief Ranjit Singh Neeta.

• June 26, 2005: Three KZF activists, identified as Hardeep alias Badal, Sukhwinder alias Pappa, and Harpreet alias Ricky, are arrested from the Jammu region. According to the police, two pistols, a country-made gun and some ammunition were recovered from their possession.

• April 27, 2005: A court in Jammu acquits an KZF activist in an illegal weapons possession case for lack of evidence. The police had arrested KZF ‘commander’ Balbir Singh on September 27, 1997, while roaming under suspicious circumstances on the banks of the Chenab. A mouser along with a magazine and 20 live cartridges besides a rifle and 66 cartridges were recovered from him.

• February 10, 2004: Attarjit Singh, a KZF cadre and reportedly a professional border crosser, is arrested by the Jammu Police for his alleged links to the January 21, 2004-escape of Jagtar Singh Hawara, an accused in the Beant Singh assassination case, from the Burail Jail.

• April 15, 2002: Gurdev Singh alias Mantoo, a KZF terrorist, is arrested from Jammu along with one pistol, one magazine and 15 live cartridges. Gurdev, involved in criminal activities in and around Jammu City, came in contact with an associate of KZF chief Neeta in October 2001.

• April 7, 2002: Trans-border narcotics and arms smuggler Virender Sharma, a close associate of Ranjit Singh Neeta, is arrested from Jammu.

• April 6, 2002: Three KZF terrorists were arrested in Jammu along with a tonne of plastic explosive and several assault rifles, which they had planned to use on a series of targets in the city.

• April 3, 2002: The Jammu and Kashmir Police arrests Amrik Singh, ‘operational commander’ of the KZF, and his associate Gurdev Singh.

• December 28, 2000: Khuram Masih alias Manjit Singh alias Kala alias Akaal, a Christian-turned-Sikh and a close associate of Neeta, is shot dead along with another KZF cadre, Iqbal alias Balbir Singh and Mohammed Naveed Tahir of the Islamic Front by the police during an encounter at village Dablehar in the RS Pura Sector of Jammu.

• November 21, 2000: Mohammed Alam, a close associate of Mohinder Singh alias Bittu, a constable of the Special Operations Group and a front ranking KZF cadre, is arrested from the Kathua district in Jammu.

• November 18, 2000: Prince and Kala Gujjar, two local harbourers of KZF terrorists, are arrested from the Kathua district.

• November 9, 2000: Manmohan Singh alias Sonu, chief priest at the Bakshi Nagar Gurdwara and a front ranking KZF activist, is arrested by the Jammu Police.

• August 24, 2000: The Delhi Police neutralises a Nepal module of the KZF with the arrest of three cadres who were involved in several bomb blasts in Delhi, Punjab and Jammu. Lakhbir Singh, alias Baba, Manpreet Kaur alias Maan Behanji, sister-in-law of the KZF chief Ranjit Singh Neeta, and Surjeet Singh were arrested from the Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship) Rakabganj Sahib along with 32 kilograms of RDX and other explosives.

• March 25, 2000: Three KZF cadres, identified as Ravinder Singh, Tajinder Singh and Kamaldeep Singh, are arrested from Jammu.

• March 18, 2000: Three KZF activists, Sukhvinder Singh alias Mithu, Satvir Singh alias Sunny and Parshotum Singh alias Kala, are arrested in New Delhi.

• March 17, 2000: The Jammu Police arrest a suspected activist of the Khalistan Zindabad Force, identified as Kirtan Singh alias Bitta, who was the mastermind behind the bomb blasts on board the Sealdah Express and Pooja Express trains. Police also recovered one Chinese-made revolver, four magazines, 30 rounds, two AK magazines with 50 rounds and fake currency of Rupees 40,000.

• March 1, 2000: Union Home Minister L. K. Advani discloses in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) that the KZF was one of the eight Sikh extremist outfits operating in the country.

• February 10, 2000: The KZF is alleged to have exploded a bomb on board the Sealdah Express train at Supwal village in the Vijaypur area of Jammu killing five persons and injuring 20 others.

• November 11, 1999: At least 14 people are killed and 55 others sustain injuries in a KZF-engineered bomb blast on board the Jammu-Delhi Pooja Express train.

• April 1, 1999: Kathua Police arrests Ramzan Khan and Basant Singh alias Geelu, two suspected KZF activists, during raids conducted at Nagrota on a tip off given by Naseeb Singh, a KZF cadre who had been arrested on January 23, 1999. Police recovered a revolver, one double barrel gun, three rounds and other ammunition from the possession of arrested suspects.

• March 28, 1999: A Khalistan Zindabad Force activist, identified as Keval Singh Rajput, is arrested from Jammu.

• January 23, 1999: Naseeb Singh, a front ranking KZF cadre hailing from the Digiana area of Jammu, is arrested from Kathua. Naseeb Singh was a close associate of former KZF chief Mohinder Singh Pappi and another ‘commander’ Gurmeet Singh alias Manga, both of whom were killed in encounters in Punjab.

• November 1998: Lakhbir Singh, an activist of the KZF, is arrested from a hotel in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu along with 20 kg of RDX and timing devices.

• October 23, 1998: The Jammu Kashmir High Court (Jammu Bench) dismisses a petition filed by Ajit Singh, father of hardcore militant Sulkhan Singh, and KZF activists challenging the detention of Sulkhan under Public Safety Act for two years. In the dismissal order, Justice G. D. Sharma observed that it is established that the detenue is a hardcore motivated militant and his remaining at large is highly hazardous for the security of the State and maintenance of public order. According to the grounds of detention, in the month of April 1997 Sulkhan Singh met with Punjab militants Attar Jeet Singh and Jagmohan Singh who motivated him to become an active KZF cadre and get training in handling arms and ammunition after going to Pakistan.